District of



Nov, 8, 1927.

C. W. ARMBRU$T WATER COLLECTING DEVICE Filed Sept. 20, 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 1 g HTIVENTORI M -X BY}U4 ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1927.

c. w. ARMBRUST WATER COLLECTING DEVICE Filed Sept.20, 19 2 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTOR Patented Nov. 8, 1927.

UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

CHARLES W. ARMBRUST, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASEiIGNOB TO INTERNATIONALLIFE SAVING WATER MAKING CUP CORPORATION, OF IVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

WATER-COLLECTING DEVICE.

Application filed September 20, 1920.

, This invention relates to water conserving .and collecting devices,and is especially directed towards providing a device foruse on ships incase of wrecks, or in deserts, or any place in fact where there is noavailable supply of water. v I p The object of my lnvention is toprovide a device of this character which will permit one in need ofwater to condense and collect moisture in the breath of exhalation foruse in emergency. 7 p

A further object of this invention is to provide a device of this naturewlnch s compact, economical of manufacture and etficient in operation.

I Further objects of the invention Wlll appear more fully hereinafter. h

The invention consists substantially in the construction, combination,location and relative arrangement of parts as will be more fullyhereinafter set forth, as shown 1n the accompanying drawings, and hnallypointed out in the appended cla1ms.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a View in front elevat on of a water making deviceembodylngmy inven tion, showing it applied to a human body 111 position for use.i

Fig. 2 is a view partially in section of the head or mouth piece portionof the device.

Fig. 3 is a view in section showing the saliva trap employed inaccordance with my invention.

Fig. t is a sectional view taken on the l ne 4.--4 of Fig. 3, andlooking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on the l ne 5-5 of Fig. .3, and lookingin the dnectlon of the arrows.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partially in.

Serial 110.. 411,643.

or, where such supply has been exhausted. It is among the specialpurposes of my present invention to provide a device for useinemergency, which will condense and collect the moisture contained in thebreath of exhalation. Experiment has shown that constant inhalationthrough the nostrils and exhalation through the mouth, carries from thebody a considerable amount of moisture, and that this moisture ischemically pure enough to drink, and is not harmful. Also that due tothe great percentage of moisture contained in the breath of exhalation,a continual condensation of the breath of exhalation will result in aconsiderable quantity of water, at least sufficient to prevent death dueto thirst for a considerable time.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a mouth piece 1 adapted to bepermanently strapped in position in the mouth'of a human being, andwhich mouth piece is placed in communication through a flexible tube 12,and a saliva trap 3, to a condenser and container 4. While the mouthpiece may be made of any desired material, I prefor to have the sameofhard rubber, and the device and parts making up what I consider to bemy preferred type of apparatus is more clearly shown ,in Fig. 2, whereinthe portion 5, which is retained in'the mouth of the user, is held inposition by a. supporting portion which is made preferably of a softmetal or a slightly flexible fibre, or the like. In the form shown thepiece 6, which, as shown in Fig. 1, is shaped to completely cover thelips, is provided at its ends with hooks or other devices 7 todetachably receive the ends of the head strap 8, detachably secured atthe rear thereof in any suitable manner, for example, by means of aspring catch device 9.

When not in use, the mouth portion 5, may be plugged up by a suitablecork 10, which preferably is connected to a part of the head apparatusby means of a chain or other suitable device 11. The mouth piece 5 iseither secured to or forms part of a tube 12, which may be made of anydesired material, the end of which is secured to a saliva trap indicatedgenerally at 3, and shown in sections in Figs. 8, 4r. and 5. The tube 12in the form selected for illustration is detachably secured at its lowerend to the top of the saliva tra which consists of the free as the tube14, which leads to the container 4.

An auxiliary chamber 15 is provided with a lip 16, projecting into thepassage 13, and located at the rear portion thereof, so that any salivarunning by gravity down the tube 12, will automatically be caught by thelip 16, and thus directed into the chamber 15, which is separated at itsbottom from the passage 13, by means of a wall 17 A removable ping 18controls a drain passageout of the bottom of the chamber 15. The top ofthe passage 13 is controlled by a valve, which consists of a fixed disk20 rigidly'secured to the upper end of thesaliva trap 13 and havingholes 20 and a movable disk 40 spaced apart from disk 20. The movable-disk 40 has holes '41 outof register with holes 20, so that thepassage is normally open, but :is closed when the receptacle is heldupside down. As shown in Fig. 5 the movable "disk'40 is secured to astem 41 which passes through an opening in the center of the fixed disk20 and is free to slide therein, so that when there is exhalationthrough the tube 1 2, the valve is opened, but in case of in halationthrough the mouth piece 5, the valve through suction is closed.

The tube '14 communicates with the con tamer 4, which is made preferablyof a metal coated With any suitable material which "tends to preservethe metal and to retain the same in a @001 state. The container 4, maybe of anysu'itable shape, and, if desired. may be secured to a strap 30,to be strapped into position around the waist of the user.

In accordance with my invention, I provide event or outlet for thecontainer which will permit the moisturedaden breath to escape, butwhich at the same time will prevent water or other material fromentering into the container to thus pollute the liquid condensed andretained therein. One arrangement embodying my inventionwhich 1 haveillustrated as suitable and efficient for this purpose isshown in Fig.6, wherein the container is provided with an outlet nozzle 81, intowhich is screwed a plug 32, which is 'cone shaped, and open at its top.

A similarly shaped piece of rubber 33 is located within the cone of theplug 32, to, when seated, completely close the passage 34 thereof. Aremovable cap 35 provided with perforations 36 therein is adapted toscrew over the outer end of the plug 32. Thus it will be seen that whenpressure due to the breath exhalation is supplied to the containerthrough the tube 14, the rubber valve 33 is forced away from its seat,and the breath is allowed to escape past the valve seat and through theperforations 36. A spindle 37, extending between the valve and the coveror cap 35, normally tends to retain the valve on its seat.

Vfhen it is desirable to use the water condensed and contained in thecontainer 4, it is merely necessary to disconnect the tube 14, and inletplug 39, from the container 4, and pour out the desired amount of fluid.

To avoid losing the various removable parts of the apparatus thus fardescribed,

especially at a time when it is most needed,

1 have shown each of such parts connected by a suitable chain or othersimilar device to a permanent or non-movable part of the apparatus. Ifdesired, "however, the valve assembly 32, 33,35, maybe unscrewed-toperunit the egress of the condensed water through the nozzle 31, withoutaffecting the valve assembly per se, and also to permit cleaning thecontainer 4.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided an exceedinglysimple, efficien't and compact device of this, character. It will beunderstood, of course, that to "pre vent deterioration of the variousparts'of the apparatus that it is preferable to pack the same inhermetically sealed'containerswhich may be readily opened in anysuitable way when .an emergency arises which'necessitates the usethereof. 4

Many modifications and changes in details will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of myinvention as defined in the claims. Therefore, having now set forth theobjects and nature of my invention, whatI olaim as new and useful andofmy ownimvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a device of the character described for condensing the vapor inhuman breath, the combination with a container having an inlet and anoutlet, a flexible tube commulr eating with said inlet, and providedwith a mouthpiece, and means carried by "the'mouth piece for normallyretaining thesame in'the mouth of the user, and a removable stopper forthe mouth piece.

'2. In a device of the character described for condensing the vapor inhuman "breath, the combination with a container having an inlet and anoutlet, a flexible tube communicating with said inlet, and provided witha mouth piece, and means carried by the mouth piece for normallyretaining the same in the mouth of the user, said means including "acovering for the lips of the user.

3. In, a device of the character described tor-condensing the vapor inhuman breath, the combination with acontainer having an inlet and anoutlet, a flexible tube communicating with said inlet, and provided with*a mouth piece, and means carried by the mouth 1 the combination with acontainer having an inlet and an outlet, a flexible tube communieatingwith said inlet, and provided with a mouth piece, and a saliva trap,means carried by the mouth piece for normally retaining the same in themouth of the user, and an automatic valve carried by said saliva trapfor controlling the passage of air thereto.

5. In a device of the character described for condensing the vapor inhuman breath,

' the combination with a container having an inlet and an outlet, aflexible tube communieating with saidinlet, and'provided witha mouthpiece, and a Valve controlled chamber locatedin said flexible tube toautomatically collect the saliva therein, and means for drawing off thesaliva collected in said chamber.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 14: day ofSeptember A. 1)., 1920.

CHARLES W. ARMBRUST.

